(SportsNetwork.com) – The New York Knicks will try to snap a five-game losing
streak Wednesday night when they welcome the Orlando Magic to Madison Square
Garden.
The Knicks haven’t won in 10 days when they beat the Charlotte Hornets at MSG.
Since, New York is 0-2 at home and 0-3 on the road, but there is one
consistent variable in its troubled start.
The offense.
Head coach Derek Fisher implemented team president, Phil Jackson’s vaunted
triangle offense. The Knicks have yet to score 100 points in a game and rank
dead last at 91.1 ppg.
Commissioner Adam Silver even weighed in on the Knicks, saying it looked like
they were having some trouble with the triangle offense. Jackson dismissed the
words, but the Knicks are reeling.
They lost both ends of a home-and-home series with the Atlanta Hawks over a
three-day span. The Knicks fell by seven in Atlanta on Friday, then lost,
91-85, at home on Monday.
Carmelo Anthony tallied 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Iman
Shumpert supplied 18 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 15 for New York.
Anthony was 11-of-25 from the field. He’s now taken at least 20 shots in his
last six games, but has just shot 50 percent or better just once.
“We’ve just gotta stay with it, stay focused, stay positive as a team,”
Anthony said.
The Knicks welcome the Denver Nuggets on Friday, then hit the road for five of
their next six.
The Magic lost a heartbreaker in Toronto Tuesday night, falling to the red-hot
Raptors, 104-100.
Evan Fournier paced Orlando with 24 points while Tobias Harris went for 23
points and 13 rebounds. Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points with eight rebounds
and six assists and Channing Frye hit five 3-pointers for the Magic, who only
got 14 points from their bench.
“This was a test for us,” said Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn. “We played this
team ten days ago. Were we more prepared, were we a better team, were we
smarter than the first time we played them? It was a good challenge for us
tonight.”
Toronto trailed 83-72 through three quarters, but Lou Williams and Patrick
Patterson hit consecutive threes to cap a swift 11-0 run that tied the game.
Fournier’s corner trey out of a timeout briefly silenced the crowd and the
Magic led until 6:36, when Patterson sank another long ball to give the
Raptors their first lead since the first quarter.
The lead was one when Patterson was fouled with 11.8 seconds left and split
the pair of free throws, setting up Harris’ final look at the basket. He
didn’t get a great attempt off thanks to great defense from James Johnson.
Wednesday’s game ends a three-game road trip for the Magic.
The Knicks took two of three from Orlando last season and are 8-1 in their
last nine against the Magic. The two squads split the last 10 meetings in New
York City.
Orlando has lost four in a row at MSG.
